Indian equity benchmark -- Nifty -- ended Wednesday’s trading session in a positive territory, ahead of upcoming U.S. Federal Reserve policy meeting minutes and Chair Jerome Powell’s address later this week for indications on future rate cuts. After making negative start, index altered between green and red amid foreign fund outflows. According to exchange data, Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) again turned sellers on Tuesday as they offloaded equities worth Rs 1,457.96 crore. Traders took note of Reserve Bank of India Governor Shaktikanta Das’ statement India’s inflation must show signs of settling around the central bank’s target of 4 percent on a sustainable basis before a rate cut can be considered. The inflation rate in July eased below the RBI’s target for the first time since 2019, but the central bank expects it to climb back again from September. However, index managed to trade above its neutral line in afternoon session. Traders took note of report that Krishnamurthy V Subramanian, executive director, International Monetary Fund (IMF), said Indian economy is slated to grow to $55 trillion by 2047, if the country is able to register an average real growth rate of 8 per cent in the coming years with average inflation remaining around 5 per cent. In last leg of trade, index extended its gains to end near day’s high point.
Traders were seen piling up positions in Consumer Durables, Media and Pharma stocks, while selling was witnessed in Realty, PSU Bank, and Bank. The top gainers from the F&O segment were RBL Bank, United Breweries and Divi's Laboratories. On the other hand, the top losers Balrampur Chini Mills, Godrej Properties and Aditya Birla Fashion and Retail. In the index option segment, maximum OI continues to be seen in the 24900 - 25100 calls and 23900 - 24100 puts indicating this is the trading range expectation.
